BACKGROUND:Ted's world is the current DC Universe, in which he is, unfortunately, quite dead. But that part's for later. Ted was the son of Thomas Kord, a relatively well-known industrialist based in Chicago. He became the Blue Beetle while still in college, after helping his professor, Dan Garrett, defeat Ted's mad scientist uncle Jarvis on Pago Island. Dan was killed in the battle and passed the mantle of the Blue Beetle down to Ted, including the scarab -- which never worked for him. Because of this, Ted trained himself to become an Olympic-level acrobat, along with training in karate and aikido. Ted is very intelligent -- genius-level, so he put those skills to work as well, eventually building an airship (the Bug) and his BB gun, which is entirely non-lethal.

Ted was introduced to the DC Universe during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, along with the other characters from Charlton. He began his adventures in his own series soon after, fighting, notably, one of his uncle's evil androids that had survived the events on Pago Island and a possessed version of Dan Garrett. While alive (and being controlled by an Egyptian pharaoh), Dan discovered that there was a possible alien connection to the scarab, and eventually died again, and the scarab was destroyed.

Soon enough, Ted joined the Justice League International (financed by Maxwell Lord), where he met his best friend, Booster Gold. He was a member of the League for many years, including during when his father repossessed KORD Industries -- which led to a lack of money for Ted, and in turn led to all sorts of crazy money-making schemes with Booster. No matter what Ted says, the schemes were mostly his idea. This included Kooey Kooey Kooey, in which he and Booster appropriated some of the JLI's funds to start a casino on a sentient island. Needless to say, it didn't end entirely well. Ted was also present for the events during the death of Superman, though unconscious thanks to Doomsday. He eventually grew less active with the League, becoming semi-retired, and gained some weight. He promptly worked on losing that weight with the help of General Glory, and became more active as well. After Tora died fighting the Overlord, Ted and Booster joined a group headed by Captain Atom, called Extreme Justice. This involved lots of awful 90s hair, extreme suits, and at one point, the death of Booster. (He got better.) From there, they joined a group called L.A.W., which involved stopping Judomaster's sidekick, Avatar. After this last group, Ted retired (again) and went to live semi-quietly as CEO of K.O.R.D. Incorporated.

During his retirement, he became friends with Barbara Gordon, and loaned his Bug and various other services to the Birds of Prey, soon becoming an honorary member. Barbara convinced him to actually go to the doctor, and Ted discovered he had a heart condition. Working with Barbara and the Birds helped him realize he could never really 'quit' being a hero, and so he began working again. He joined the 'Super Buddies', Max's reincarnation of the JLI, but that was very shortlived. At one point, Carter Hall discovered the scarab in a pyramid in Egypt, but Ted could not get it to work. Ted was just settling into working again when he was alerted by Barbara that someone was embezzling funds from his personal accounts. Armed with the name of the company, (OMAC), Ted set out to find out what he could about it. He attempted to convince the League to help him, but no one took him seriously. Booster volunteered to help him, but was electrocuted by a 'bolt of lightning' meant for Ted. After fighting off various attacks, Ted followed the clues (and traces from Skeets' circuitry), which led him to the Checkmate base in the Swiss Alps. There, he found a giant computer screen, an evil plot to kill all the metahumans, and Maxwell Lord. Max gave Ted an offer to help him, Ted refused, and Max shot him in the head.

PERSONALITY:There really isn't a dividing line between Ted's personality as the Blue Beetle and his normal personality. He's got a tendency for making horrible jokes in very inappropriate situations -- such as playing Star Trek when Mr Miracle and Batman try to save the Earth. When he and Booster are together, they tend to feed off each other, which makes things a little worse. Usually, at least in the JLI, both Ted and Booster were responsible for quite a few ridiculous pranks and ..incidents. When he was younger, Ted had somewhat of a problem with keeping goofing around separate from his superheroing. During the JLI years, the League and the public in general considered Ted to be a bit of a screwup, a guy who got the League into pointless scrapes and was only in it for the publicity, the money, and the ladies. Which was, for a while, true. At that point in his life, Ted was bankrupt and looking for any way to make money -- including setting up a repo business with Booster. Eventually, though, he got KORD back from his father and on his feet again, and matured some, with help from J'onn and the League.

Despite those tendencies to joke and have fun, Ted does have a serious side. He's always got something to work on -- whether it's updating the Bug, building software, or devising new uses for Mr. Miracle's technology. Given the chance, he's very close to being a workaholic, if not quite one. He's devoted to helping people, both as a superhero and with his company. If people were to look past the humor and ridiculous pranks, they'd see a hard-working, friendly, mostly average guy. He's a great friend -- especially to those he knows he can trust, like Barbara Gordon and Booster. He tends to be trusting -- a little too much so, in some cases. For example, Booster has access to Ted's bank accounts -- but Ted's also put his trust in some dangerous people over the years, such as Max Lord. He considered Max a friend, sort of -- and look where that got him. Dead in Switzerland!

He's also prone to freaking out sometimes -- usually when he's stressed or worried about someone or something. If he knows he can fix it, he'll calm down -- or he'll freak out at someone until it gets fixed. Even though he's a bit of a dork in his 'normal' life, Ted is honestly a great superhero. He cares about people, he'll do what it takes to get the job done and make sure everyone's safe. It might be due to his very slight mad scientist tendencies, or his way of concentrating on lots of things at the same time, but he can figure out how to solve problems in ways most people could never think of. (Yes, even Batman.) Ted's ingenuity and general all-around decent guy personality make him an important part of the League, even if he doesn't exactly realize it. He brings a bit more humanity, understanding, and humor to the League. Which is a bonus! Because, well, Batman and Wonder Woman don't tend to be the friendliest of people. In short -- Ted, though a bit of a nerd and a prankster, is a great guy to have around. Especially now that he's matured and (mostly) stopped pranking. Well. Maybe the really mean pranks have stopped. You never can tell, when he and Booster are together.

POWER:Ted's got a genius-level IQ, which his how he makes all those wonderful toys. He's got a talent for hacking and inventing, and is also skilled in spying, martial arts, and is an Olympic-level acrobat. Otherwise he pretty much depends on the tech in the Bug and the toys he's dreamed up. His additional C&C power is iridescent blue cricket wings. They're small enough to be able to fit semi-comfortably under a shirt and can support his weight and one other's while in flight.

[CHARACTER SAMPLES]COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:

....This is unexpected. Sure, not unwelcome, but it's not what I thought I'd be seeing. New York is nice and all, though! Brings back fond memories. Though they're probably not here, considering. Anyway, it looks like I've missed a lot. I've kind of got the hang of things here -- obviously not my universe, random people showing up, no way of getting home, blah blah blah. Hell was more confusing. Probably stinkier, too.

What's gonna take some time, though, is catching up. With people and events, I mean. And being alive again, and maybe an explanation of why the hell my back is hurting so much, but that can wait a little. Any volunteers?

LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:

It was late. To be more precise, it was late, Ted was running on very little sleep, and he had to get these software upgrades ready to show to the board the next morning. He'd killed far too much time chatting with Oracle earlier, and now it was crunch time. How was he supposed to resist the temptation of talking shop with one of his favorite people? He was always glad to talk to Oracle, get tips from her, share new things they had both found.

Oh, well. He'd get it done, despite the lack of sleep. It's what he always did. If he made a promise, Ted Kord got it done. (So did the Blue Beetle, but that's for another time.) Back to work. He sighed and turned back to the computer screen, absently brushing his hair back. Once he'd started typing again, turning back to work, a muffled beep made him pause. ...Damn it, where was his phone? Probably under that pile of papers over there. He lunged for the papers, promptly dropping the motherboard that had been precariously balanced on his work table.

"Dammit, I should have ignored it," Ted muttered to himself, and grabbed his phone to listen to the message. It was from Booster, telling him they needed to go out at some point. "Yeah, soon," Ted replied to the phone. "Whenever I finish this reprogramming, buddy." He slid the phone into his pocket, picked up the motherboard, and returned his attention to the computer screen. Time to get things done.